Nutritional Advice El Mondo
Objectives:
Undernutrition is a major risk factor for tuberculosis (TB), which is estimated to be responsible for 1.9 million TB cases per year globally. The effectiveness of micronutrient supplementation on TB treatment outcomes and its prognostic markers (sputum conversion, serum zinc, retinol and haemoglobin levels) has been poorly understood. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
Do zinc and vitamin A supplementation improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes in adults with sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis?
Study design:
This review article included 9 RCTs with a total of 1,375 participants.
Study-specific sample sizes ranged from 26 to 499 participants.
The follow-up duration for outcome evaluation ranged from 2 to 6 months.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found among adults with pulmonary tuberculosis, zinc [RR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.86 to 1.03], vitamin A [RR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.80 to 1.01] and combined zinc and vitamin A [RR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.89 to 1.08] supplementation were not significantly associated with tuberculosis treatment success.
The investigators found combined zinc and vitamin A supplementation was significantly associated with increased sputum smear conversion at 2 months [RR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.03 to 1.32], serum zinc levels at 2 months [MD = 0.86 μmol/L, 95% C I= 0.14 to 1.57], serum retinol levels at 2 months [MD = 0.06 μmol/L, 95% CI = 0.04 to 0.08] and 6 months [MD = 0.12 μmol/L, 95% CI = 0.10 to 0.14] and serum haemoglobin level at 6 months [MD = 0.29 μg/dL, 95% CI = 0.08 to 0.51] among adults with pulmonary tuberculosis.
The investigators concluded that combined zinc and vitamin A supplementation improves sputum smear conversion and increase serum retinol, zinc and haemoglobin levels at different durations of follow-up in adults with sputum-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. However, zinc and/or vitamin A supplementation during tuberculosis treatment has no effect on a successful tuberculosis treatment outcome.
Original title:
Effects of zinc and vitamin A supplementation on prognostic markers and treatment outcomes of adults with pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis by Wagnew F, Alene Ka, […], Gray D.
Link:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9490634/
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on food fortification/malnutrition, vitamin A and zinc right here.
Sputum smear conversion is a key indicator of treatment response and reduced infectivity among bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) patients.